Naked Mole Rat Cam

These underground rodents from Sub Saharan Africa challenge many of our assumptions about mammals. They are nearly hairless, cannot regulate their body temperature and function as a big colony with a single queen. Their resistance to cancer and heart disease challenge scientists in other ways – to figure out how their bodies protect themselves from disease.

Thanks to our friends at Nest, watch live HD video of these amazing creatures 24x7. The live stream here requires a Flash-enabled browser or download the free Nest app for your iOS or Android device and view these streams anytime. We invite you to follow us on Facebook where we announce special events happening in this exhibit. We welcome your questions and comments about the activity you see. Drop us a note anytime at nakedmolerats@pacsci.org.

The animals may be motionless but not dead. Their resting metabolism is much lower than that of other mammals. They may breathe slowly and appear not to be breathing at all.

Sometimes the chamber you are viewing will be full of animals, but don’t worry. They are not getting trampled. They evolved to need and tolerate crowding.

Naked mole rat use their teeth to dig, chew, and carry their babies, which they can do very gently. They have strong jaws, but they would only bite a person or another animal under very unusual conditions.

The dark markings you see on the mole rats are identifying tattoos. The ink is for a cause. Because their skin is pink and hairless, the markings are quite conspicuous. Learn More

The clicking sound is the mole rats chewing on their surroundings. This is a natural excavating instinct.